Australia Sovereign 2024 - Perth Mint's 125 Anniversary, Coin from Australia - detailed information

The Perth Mint’s annual Australia Sovereign (also called the Australian Sovereign) is a prestigious 22-carat gold coin featuring a design inspired by historic sovereigns made at the Sydney Mint between 1855 and 1866. As the first overseas branch of Britain’s Royal Mint, the Sydney Mint was opened in 1855 to make sovereign coins from Australian gold. For the first 11 years they were distinguished from London versions by a specially prepared "colonial" design. A testament to the skill of Australia’s early minters, these highly successful issues continue to attract significant interest among modern collectors.

The coin has the same specifications as the British gold sovereign. The Perth Mint was a branch of the Royal Mint from its foundation in 1899 until 1970, when it was transferred to the government of Western Australia; it produced Imperial (pre-decimal) sovereigns between 1899 and 1931.

In 2009, the mint revived the format - initially with a design featuring the Coat of Arms of Australia, then with a replica of the reverse of the Australian Sovereign issued by the Sydney Mint between 1853 and 1870.

This special edition Australia Sovereign was issued to mark the 125th anniversary of the Perth Mint.

Its reverse design features the legend of Saint George slaying the dragon - a reference to the design which has been displayed on British sovereign coins since 1817. The Perth Mint is deeply linked to it - it was founded as a branch of the Royal Mint in 1899 with its only initial task to strike British sovereigns in Australia near the source of the gold; its very first production was a sovereign coin with a Saint George and Dragon reverse.

The mint says about the release:
Production of traditional sovereigns from Western Australian gold was the lifeblood of The Perth Mint in the years up to 1931. One hundred and six million pieces were struck, each bearing Benedetto Pistrucci’s classical St George and the Dragon design and a "P" mintmark.